Adjustable school seat and desk



No. sums. Patented Oct. 4, I898. B. CLARK.

ADJUSTABLE SCHOOL SEAT AND DESK.

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(Application fi June 4, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

Patented Oct. 4 I898. B. CLARK. ADJUSTABLE SCHOOL SEAT AND DESK.

(Application filed June 4, 1897.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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2 o 4 c J a i NlTED BYRON CLARK, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS, ASSIG NOR TO O. H. lVOODRUFF, OF SAME PLAOE, AND H. L. HALL, OF DES MOINES, IOlVA.

ADJUSTABLE SCHOOL SEAT AND DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,606, dated October 4, 1898.

Application filed June 4, 1897. Serial No. 639,486. (No model.)

T ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BYRON CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Combined Adj ustable School Desk and Seat, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a combined school desk and seat of simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive construction in which the desk or seat may be adjusted vertically relative to each other and to the floor without in any way disturbing the part that is not being adjusted. A further object is to provide a device of this class in which both sides of the desk or seat are adjusted simultaneously with the,

same movement, and which may be adjusted while the person is occupying the seat, and which cannot move downwardly after the operation of raising or lowering has been finished and before the device has been securely clamped together.

A further object is to provide adevice of this kind which may be readily and quickly operated by persons who are not skilled in mechanics.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the mechanism for raising and lowering the desk and seat, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the desk and seat combined. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the desk detached. Fig. 3 shows a like view of the seat detached, and Fig. 4 shows a side elevation of the base with the desk and seatboth detached therefrom. Fig.

5 shows an enlarged detail view of the inner face of the disk on which the adj usting-worm is located. Fig. 6 shows a detail perspective view of aplate designed to be clamped to the inner face of the base to hold the desk and seat together. Fig. 7 shows an enlarged vertical sectional view through the line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 shows a horizontal sectional view of the plateillustrated in Fig. 6 and the upright to which it is attached.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

the reference-numeral 10 is used to indicate a base having at its top a fiat plate 11 in a vertical position and having therein two bearing-boxes designed to receive the wormbearing disks, which will be hereinafter described, and arranged to hold the same at an angle diverging slightly from the vertical for purposes hereinafter made clear. These bearings are indicated by the reference-numeral 12. These plates are also provided with openings 13, through which abolt 14 may be passed. The side piece of the desk proper is preferably made of a single casting (indicated by the reference-numeral 15) and having at its lower end a straight portion 16, preferably bifurcated at its lower end and provided with a rack 17. Near the upper end of the casting 15 is a log 18, for purposes hereinafter,

made clear. The seat-casting is provided with a straight portion 19, corresponding with the straight portion 16, and a rack 20. At its upper rear edge is a raised guide 21, which the lug 18 of the desk-casting is designed to overlap. The upper ends of the desk and seat when connected are held by these lugs and guides 18 and 21 from separating. The seat proper (indicated by the reference-numeral 22) is supported upon this casting and is preferably capable of being swung to an approximately vertical position.

The reference-numeral 23 is used to indicate a plate having ribs 24 and openings 25. The said ribs 24 are for the purpose of entering in the concaved inner faces of the straight portions 16 and 19, and the plate is designed to be clamped to the inner surface of the plate 11 by means of the bolt 14:. This bolt is preferably made to clamp the parts tight enough so that the straight portions 16 and 19 may not become displaced relative to each other and yet may be capable of a vertical movement. I

The reference-numeral 26 is used to indicate a disk having a tapered central opening 29, largest at its inner end, and also having on its inner face a spiral thread or worm 28. When this worm-bearing disk is placed in its bearing in the plate 11, the inclined position of the bearing causes only the top portion of the worm to engage with the rack on the casting adjacent thereto, and it is obvious that a rotation of the disk will raise or lower the rack, inasmuch as the worm or spiral thread thereon will enter the teeth 011 the racks successively. It is obvious, further, that it is practically impossible to place sufficient weight upon the desk or seat to cause the wormbearing disk 26 to be rotated. Hence when the table or desk has been once adjusted it cannot slip downwardly when weight is placed thereupon, even before the bolt 14 is adjusted to securely clasp the parts together.

In practical use, assuming that it is desired 'to adjust either the desk or seat, the operator places an angular rod or key in the opening 29 of the part which he wishes to raise or lower, and it is obvious that by turning the worm-bearing disk the said part is raised or lowered. If it should be desired to raise and lower both sides of the desk or seat at the same time, an angular rod is supplied long enough to pass completely through both sides. Then by turning this rod the sides are moved simultaneously. The opening 29 is tapered in the manner shown, so that a rod may be extended completely through both sides and yet may be turned, even though the wormbearing disks are inclined from the vertical. It will be obvious, further, that with this construction of device comparatively little force will be necessary to raise and lower the part desired. Hence in adjusting the seat or desk for a pupil the operation maybe accomplished by seating the pupil on the seat, or facing the desk, and then raising or lowering the same until the proper position has been reached. By reason of the peculiar construc tion of the means for adjusting this desk the weight of the person cannot operate to drop the desk or seat after the angular rod or key has been withdrawn. lVhen the desk and seat have been adjusted to their proper positions,

the bolt 14 is preferably tightened to hold the parts in place and prevent rattling.

Having thus described the device, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is-- 1. In a school-desk or the like, the combination of a part at each side of the desk, having racks thereon, a base or support at each side of the desk, having bearings thereon and also designed to receive said racks and permit them to move vertically therein, disks rotatably mounted in said bearings and inclined at an angle relative to the racks and having angular openings therein wider at their inner than at their outer ends, and spiral threads or worms formed on the inner faces of the disks and so arranged that only the upper portions of the worms will engage the racks, and means for rotating the said disks, for the purposes stated.

2. In a combined school desk and seat, the combination of a base at each side of the device, having plates at their tops, two bearin gs in each of said plates, a second plate detachably connected with the inner surface of each of the aforesaid plates, desk-supports having straight bifurcated lower ends, and seat-supports also having straight bifurcated lower ends, a rack on each of said bifurcated lower ends, means for slidingly connecting the upper ends of the desk and seat supports, a disk rotatably mounted in each of said hearings inclined at an angle relative to the said racks and each having an angular opening largest at its inner end, the said openings being in alinement with the bifurcations in the lower ends of the said supports, and spiral threads or worms formed on the inner faces of said disks and so arranged that only the upper portion of each spiral thread or worm will engage with the adjacent rack, and an angular rod having a crank at one end designed to be passed through the said angular openings in the disk, all arranged and combined substantially in the manner set forth and for the purlVitnesses:

OSCAR J onus, O. H. WooDRUFF. 

